how much do you generally tip for a $25 service? (food, haircut, bj, etc)?

TIPS BY THE NUMBERS

The amount of a tip often reflects factors other than the tipper's generosity or the server's ability.

Consider:

• Servers who introduce themselves by name receive an average tip 53% greater than the tip for those who do not.

• Servers who squat next to the table while talking with customers, thereby improving eye contact, can raise their tips from 15% to 18%.

• Those who write "thank you" on the back of the check receive about an 18% tip, which is the same amount female servers get by drawing a happy face.

• Males who draw a smiley face decrease their tips by 3%.

• The use of tip trays bearing credit-card logos increases tips by up to 25%, even when customers pay cash.

• Tips soar by 140% for servers who simply smile.

• Those servers who casually touch customers (i.e. once on the shoulder, twice on the palm of the hand when giving change) add to their tips by 42%, with female customers being a bit more generous than men.

-- The Indianapolis Star; Cornell University

wow!
coming from a non-tipping society, this is kind of cool to read. Most restaurants we go to have a communal tipping jar by the counter, which is split amongst the staff.

I tip a dollar for every five.
And that is if I don't have to wait on drinks after I have been seated and if I have been attended to in a timely fashion, and your not someone who thinks they are going to make a good tip by being cute to the point of being annoying.
I really hate it when girls think they are going to get a bigger tip by flirting.
And don't make me wait on the check when Im done eating.
When Im ready to go I don't want to be waiting around on the server to bring the check then bring back my card.

Same for the hairdresser don't try and flirt, pay attention to me, don't gab across the room with other people. Small talk is unnecessary. Just do your job and do it well.

A dollar a head for lunch. Two dollars a head for dinner.

Add an additional dollar if non-soft drinks are served.

Add an additional dollar if appetizers are served.

Add an additional dollar if desserts are served.

Drop an additional $5 if service was splendid.

Make sure total tip is at lease 10% for lunch and 15% for dinner.

Make it even more worth their while by tipping with CASH. (Servers have to report at least 8% of a total sale as tip. If you tip them 15% in Cash, they get to "hide" anything over 8% so it doesn't get taxed. If you tip 15% in Credit Cards, they have to claim the entire 15% tip to be taxed.)

I do 20% in restaurants, & $10-15 @ the hairdresser...

Bad tipping is a deal-breaker for me. I've ended friendships with people who don't tip well.

That said, I do hate the presence of tip jars everywhere in places where no one should be expected to tip. At the supermarket I go to, the grocery baggers have tip jars put out. That's ridiculous.

Fury said:

Assuming good service, I usually tip 20%, so that'd be $5 on a $25 meal.

That reminds me... I live above a pizza restaurant, and I'm a frequent customer there. One time I went down to pick up a carry-out order, and when the woman behind the counter found out that their ceiling is my floor, she asked why I didn't order delivery, since they could get it to me so quickly.

The answer I gave was that I'd feel pretty lazy if I didn't just walk downstairs. The real reason, though, is that I'd rather keep the tip money in my wallet.

Question: would it be reasonable to tip a lesser amount if they're simply walking the pizza up to my unit? On one hand, the delivery person isn't using up any of their gas or putting any wear on their car, and they can get back to the store for another delivery within a minute or two. On the other hand, pizza drivers take delivery runs on a first-in, first-out basis, so they'd have to go to the back of the line after getting a relatively low tip from me.

horatio said:

That's cause 98% of the time we do.

matt said:

my rule of thumb--why wait for somebody to bring you something you can get yourself? that's liek waiting for simebody to bring me something from the kitchen up to my bedroom. i wouldn't pay them every time though.

At restaurants I usually just double the tax on my bill and leave that amount for the tip. Which ends up being about 15%